I'd say the mortality rate has dropped if anything. I deserve to be shot...or em, have a bow blow up in face...but I shot my old Mathews feather-max with 6gr/pound for almost 10 years on one string/cable set.
Never gave me a problem.
(Granted, some may shoot more in 2 years than I did in 10...but I think storage can be as rough, sometimes, on certain equipment as actual use is. I'm not sure how bows fit into that equation though.)